Centaur rudder repair

[Airscrew]

Hi all.

During a recent clean in our club scrubbing berth, I noticed a small area missing from the outer layer of our rudder.

On the side, so not bottom.
Near to, but not the trailing edge.
No question of grounding or damage during our usage.

I estimate a few square inches, and a couple of mm deep.
Tide was coming back in swiftly, so I couldnt investigate further.
But I plan to shortly.

So,
What is the construction of the Centaur rudder. ??
Is it solid or cored, and if so with what??

If it needs attention, I dont intend removing the rudder, but will attempt a fix in situ.
We have a 4 week lift-out planned in December for a general tidyup/self service.

If it is wood cored, but the wood is not visible, is this viable to do over a couple of weekends?

I am an absolute beginner when it comes to glass/GRP/Epoxy/Polyester etc
And so they key question, what type of preparation, and what type/choice of 'filler' for this type of rudder construction.?

Many thanks.
(also posted on the Westerly forum, but no repsonse as yet)

 

[alahol2]

I don't know the construction details of the Centaur rudder so...
If it's only a couple of mm deep you may be lucky and find it's just a big flake of old antifouling that's been liberated. If it's genuinely the skin then you will need to check that no water has infiltrated inside the rudder blade. If there's water inside then the repair becomes harder. If it's dry and the skin hasn't been breached then clean it up and use epoxy filler to level it up.

 

[ashtead]

If all else fails there was someone at Hayling island who repairs rudders with osmosis etc -not saying you have this but in case all else fails you might take it to him.

 

[peter gibbs]

A couple of mm deep sounds superficial - lucky you if so. Carefully clear around the site and establish if running cracks present - as might be the case if impact has caused this.

Dry gentle depression - movement or solid? Movement requires some excavation to be able to rebuild a solid surface. Otherwise patch with gelcoat. JD

Rudders mostly contain water in my experience and this presents no real threat - rudders are not falling off in their hundreds with tang fatigue! Drilling low on the rudder will soon determine if water is in abundance, but before that consider where the water gets in - usually the stock / rudder joint. And there's going to be nothing you can do about that except perhaps pile sealant on it and keep an eye on it.

PWG

 

[convey]

During a recent clean in our club scrubbing berth, I noticed a small area missing from the outer layer of our rudder.

Check for any loose orcas in the marina.

I don't know Centaur rudders but I've explored other older Westerlys and they had a metal frame over which two formed sides of glassfibre were bound. And, as another poster states, half filled with water. Someone took theirs off and drilled it, found it to be cored and much of the core rotten, here. I might not go as far as they did to make a new one, but I might take it home, drill it, dry it out and expoy fill and glass over. It's not difficult.

If you look around, you'll notice many older boats with simple, solid replacement rudders using external mountings welded to the rudder post.

Which model do you have, the balanced shade rudder, or the one with a small skeg?

The rudder is only supported by the visible collar the stock you can see from the cockpit, so in theory it's relatively easy to remove it all, if the boat is lifted high enough up, or a hole dug underneath it. No idea if it's worth taking apart from what you say, but if I was faced with doing so, I'd schedule in taking it off on day one, and taking it home with me to do in the evenings/rainy days. Expoxy likes a little warmth to go off properly, and so do I.

It's discussed on westerly-owners.co.uk.

The author suggests it's a 3 hour one person job to remove and replace.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

The biggest issue with 4 weeks liftout is get rudder dry and epoxy cured in that time. Nothing cures below 9C and a bad cure gives false sense of security. Without heat lamps or very unseasonal weather you are somewhat restricted in December. Think about dropping rudder to take it home to cosy kitchen

 

[convey]

... and do the bushes while you're at it.